Major (The United Federation Marine Corps Book 5) (22 page)

Chapter 34

“Tell me how many you can count,” Ryck told Trap.

He’d given the other company commander both surviving reticule modules that the XO’s team had managed to find.  All the rest had been systematically destroyed by the pirates.  With the modules, and the comms Ryck had recorded, he’d been able to piece together the battle.  But the visuals were only what the two Marines had been able to see, so the information was not complete.  Sgt Nolan’s reticule had been one of the ones that had been recovered, but he’d been knocked out early, and so it didn’t offer much.  Doc Feinstein had been one of the last to fall, though, and his offered more.

Ryck watched the Alpha company commander silently count each Nizzie pirate as he came into view of Doc ‘Stein’s reticule.  Stan paused, fast forwarded, and reversed, all by sub-vocalizing, but Ryck could lip-read enough to understand each command.

“I don’t know,” Stan finally said.  “I’m thinking maybe 13 of them?  But some of them could have been knocked out later.”

Ryck had counted what he thought to be 15, but 13 or 15 didn’t make that much of a difference.  That was a lot of armor to face what remained of the battalion.

Alpha company’s initial mission had been to take out an armory.  The company had been a little late getting to its objective, and the guards there had time to prepare.  The company had still accomplished the mission with no KIAs and three WIAs, but it had expended all of its Banshees and was down to only a handful of grenades.  That left the battalion with two of the missiles and about 25 grenades.  It took an average of three grenades to take out a combat suit, even an economy model like the Nizzie, so that meant they had the capability, on paper, at least, to take out 10 or 11 of the remaining armored pirates, leaving seven or eight to be neutralized in other ways. 

On Kakurega, Michiko MacCailín had been able to take out two PICS by burying them in rubble. Out beyond the main SOG base, however, there were no handy cliffs around that could be brought down.  If they could get them into the volcanic vents that formed the foundation for the SOG cave complex, Ryck could trap them there, but he didn’t think they would be that cooperative.  He also didn’t know how much damage there was there.  He’d sent the XO and a recon team to try and make an initial assessment, but Ford had passed back that he could not get past rubble that covered the main entrance.  He was on his way to the second entrance, but Ryck was not too optimistic about that. 

“So, what’s the plan,” Trap asked.

“I told you what command has passed,” Ryck said.  “Our mission has not changed.”

Bert had been the only Marine to have comms with the “command” section that was out there in the spacelanes somewhere.  Keeping up the ridiculous charade, this was not a Marine command, but some anonymous voice giving them their instructions.  With Bert buried in the rubble of the complex, Ryck was the commander, and his AI had opened up the comms channels to him.  He’d reported back, and he was told the mission was still a go.

That was a relief to Ryck, who’d been afraid the mission might be scrubbed.  The Marines faced some pretty serious odds, but they had payback to administer.

“So this is what I want,” he said, pulling up a map on his reticule, then using that as a guide, he used a stick to trace out in the dirt the main terrain features.  The reticule offered more detail, but it was small, and with him copying the map in the dirt, each of the Marines gathered around him could see what he was doing.

“We need to locate the Nizzie force first and foremost.  They know we’re here, and they’ll want to engage.  I’ve got teams out here, here, and here as OPs,” he said, using his stick to point out their positions.  “They be able to give us early warning.  But I don’t want to wait for them to come after us.  I want to take it to them.

“Alpha, I want you to take a crescent line of defense here, along this low ridge.  I want OPs out, but I want patrols to locate the bastards.  Raiders are recon, so let’s recon.  Find them.  Once spotted, I want eyes on them until we can close with them.

“That’s going to be the job of our assault team.  Sandy Peltier-Aswad will lead that team.  We’ve got two missiles left, so Alpha, I want your best gunner attached to the team, and I want him to take one.  For the HGLs, I want 15 of the remaining rounds with the element.  The rest get divvied up to the patrols.”

“All our eggs in one basket?” Trap asked.

“Yeah.  We need to concentrate our force, then channelize them to where we can take them out.  We need them close so we can improve the chances for a kill.”

“How do we channelize them?” Captain Rob Wright, one of Trap’s platoon commanders asked.  “We just humped the terrain getting here, and it’s pretty much featureless forest.”

“That depends on where we find them.  I’ve got a feeling that they’re around here somewhere, close to the complex.  They’ll be needing access to power and cooling packs soon.  The Nizzies don’t have the PICS’ endurance.  So if we can locate the power supplies, starting right here at the schoolhouse, we’re going to be able to minimize the areas where they’ll have to be.  And remember, the forest is pretty mature and pretty dense.  It will be more difficult for them to maneuver, and they’ll be seeing Marines in back of every tree trunk, every bush.

“And we’ll give them every reason for that.  Once we locate them, the patrols will try and take out at least one of them with a grenade.  Even if it doesn’t score a kill, it will get their attention.  And then the patrol’s job will be to lead them to our kill zone.”

Ryck looked around to gauge their reception of his plan.  It wasn’t very detailed, but it was more of just a commander’s intent at this point rather than a full op order.

“OK, we’ve got a lot of work to do.  I want those OPs and patrols out ASAP.  Then, I want reps back here to we can put some meat to this plan.  I want no fewer than five potential ambush sites within the next 30 minutes.  We can’t afford to wait and give them the initiative.”

“Think this will work?” Sams asked matter-of-factly as the Marines moved off to get things moving.

“I don’t know, Sams.  But we’ve faced worse, so if I was a betting man, I’d be betting on us.”

Chapter 35

With all the patrols out looking for the pirates, it was the XO’s patrol, which had gone to see what it could find out about the missing companies, which found them.  Ryck had been correct, though.  It was the power supply that was their Achilles’ heel.  But the power supply was nowhere they had guessed.  The XO, returning to the rest, had stumbled upon them in the middle of nowhere, charging two at a time at a small power station, no more than a post sticking out of the ground.

A PICS could do a quick power pack switch-out in the field, but a Nizzie’s power pack could only be changed in an armory.  For normal usage, it had to be charged like old-time electronics with a cable. 

Ryck ordered the two companies to converge on the closest spot that could act as a kill zone.  Working as fast as they could, they prepared the area, blocking off spots to channelize them where Ryck wanted them.  Marines created deadfalls, and several others dug tiger traps.  One of Alpha’s Marines, a heavy-worlder, moved dirt like a badger, digging straight down into the forest loam.  As on most terra-formed worlds, the loam was rich and deep, which made for quicker forestation and easy digging.

The XO kept Ryck with updates.  Ryck had considered moving the two klicks to the spot and hit them while they were charging up, but the XO thought the terrain would not be conducive to the Banshees, and while two pirates were recharging, the other 16 were in a defensive posture.

Ryck had hoped that he’d over-estimated the number of Nizzie pirate at 15, but there were 18 of them.  Oh, well, just more targets for his Marines.

He looked up into the sky as if he could will a Navy Experion fighter into existence.  One simple air strike, and their problems would be over. 

It would make too much sense, though, to actually use existing weapons and doctrine in battle, doctrine developed over years of combat
, he thought sarcastically.

“Skipper, they’re down to the last two,” the XO passed. 

“OK, you ready?”

“Roger that.”

“Wait one,” Ryck said. 

He switched to the battalion command net and passed, “You’ve got three minutes to get done what you’re doing.  Finish it and get into position.”

Ryck and Çağlar left the Marines who were hoisting a huge log into a deadfall and ran back to the kill zone, which was an open area, about 20 meters wide and 40 long.  It was pretty small, and it barely gave the Banshees enough room to arm, but it was the best they could do.  There were better areas, but none close enough that Ryck thought they could get the pirates to enter.

Ryck jumped into the fighting hole inside the tree line that Çağlar had dug.

“Shit, Evgeni!  Did you have to make it so deep?” he asked, his head barely able to see out.

“Sorry, sir.  I guess I thought you were taller,” the big Marine said.

Ryck stared at him for a moment, then asked, “Are you actually making an attempt at humor, there Evgeni?  ‘Cause if you are, you need more work on it.”

Çağlar shrugged, then looked toward the front, but not before a tiny smile creased the edges of his mouth.

Ryck choked back a laugh and focused on the area in front of him.  To his eyes, he could see the area had been disturbed.  He just hoped the pirates would be too pumped up to notice.

“OK, Ford.  Kick it off.  And God’s speed.”

“We’ll need it,” the XO said.

It took a few moments, but from off in the distance, a popping noise reached them, quickly followed by concerted firing.

“Yee-haw!” the XO screeched over the net.  “Crutch bagged one.  We’re coming in hot, so cover us!”

The pirates were not registering on their reticules, but the XO’s team was.  Eight Marines were in a full-out sprint, coming right at them.  In the open, the Marines could make it in five minutes.  With full battle rattle and in the trees, it would take them longer, but they were making good time.  Ryck watched the avatars, beginning to hope that all would reach their position.

Hope is not to be relied on in battle, though.  At 500 meters away, the first Marine avatar grayed out, immediately followed by another.  Sergeant Tillis and Doc Lotulelei were gone, just like that.  Then a few moments later, Gunny Ming was down, but WIA.  Five avatars kept coming, and Ryck could now hear their
Rimskies firing.  The small caliber dart guns would have no effect on the Nizzies, and firing slowed the Marines down, but still they fired, keeping the pirate’s attention.

Two more Marines fell, one wounded and one dead, and Ryck could hear the remaining three Marine’s battle cries as they got within
sight of the kill zone.  Ryck could hear the heavy tread of the Nizzies as they pounded through the forest, guns blazing.

The forest was thick enough that the Nizzies were slowed, and both their kinetic and energy weapons were marginalized.  But as the XO and two other Marines burst into the kill zone, the open area allowed the Nizzie’s pulse rifles to fire unabated.  The XO and Sergeant Sierra were caught in the open and fried as the big two mega-joule guns opened up on them.

Liplock, the last Marine, broke to the right and into the trees just as the first Nizzies lumbered into the clearing, sending a stream of seek-and-kill rounds into the brush where Liplock had disappeared. 

Wait,
Ryck silently implored to his Banshee team. 

Both gunners had been position at the far side of the kill zone, well within the trees, but with cleared lines of fire into it.  It would be a balancing act.  They needed to wait long enough for more Nizzies to enter the kill zone, but they couldn’t wait too long or the Nizzies would be too close for their missiles to arm.

The lead Nizzie, in hot pursuit, burst through the brush after Liplock and out of the kill zone.  Behind him, several other Nizzies followed, but at a slower pace.  It was hard to give emotions to a hunk of armor, but Ryck felt he could almost see the suspicion mounting in the pirates inside that armor.

The pop of a Banshee signaled the start of the ambush.  A moment later, the pop of the seconds Banshee sounded just at the first impacted on the third Nizzie.  Ryck hadn’t thought about it, but the gunner had.  He didn’t have to take out the first one, and by taking out one further away, he ensured his missile was armed.  It hit with a flash of fire as the Nizzie simply came apart.  The second missile hit the fifth Nizzie in line with similar results.

Without fear of knocking out the relatively slow missiles, the rest of the Marines opened up.  Ineffective dart and small arms fire peppered the Nizzies, hopefully confusing them with too many targets while the HGL gunners picked their targets and fired.  The first Nizzie in the line stumbled, then fell down to lie still.  Another had an arm blown off.

The Nizzies were not simply standing still, though.  They opened up with all their weapons.  On Ryck’s reticule, avatars started to gray out in sweeps as the pulse guns unleashed.  Above his head, a branch, severed by one of their kinetic weapons, fell, hitting Ryck on his sore shoulder.  He ignored the pain and poured his own darts into the fight, knowing only a very lucky shot could do any damage at all to the pirates.

Another Nizzie went down as five or six stood in the middle of the kill zone, simply pouring out fire as their defense.  Then two more fell.

That seemed to break their will, at least as far as just standing and slugging it out.  They suddenly broke and rushed into their own assault.  To Ryck’s right, a Marine stood up, a toad in his hand, ready to throw it, but the Nizzie ran him down, the toad going over the Nizzie’s shoulder to fall uselessly on the ground.

Ryck checked his reticule.  In less than a minute, he’d lost close to half of the Marines in the ambush.  It was time for Phase Two.

“Scatter!” he passed, jumping out of his hole and running along his pre-determined egress route.  Too few Marines were with him, though.

Ryck felt the tingle of an energy weapon, but whether it was a miss or if the forest once again dissipated the weapon’s effectiveness, Ryck didn’t know.  He just kept his head low, and with Çağlar on his ass, ran to where the deadfalls and tiger pits in his little sector had been placed.  He had to squirm to the side to get past one pit, but he kept going for another 100 meters before stopping.  He turned around before realizing that the pit was now out of sight.

If they happened to catch a Nizzie in any of these traps, they would have to act fast.  The soft loam that made digging the tiger pits so easy would be no match for a man in a Nizzie.  He could simply dig his way out.

Ryck could hear crashing and shouting throughout the forest, but nothing was near him.  If a Nizzie had followed Çağlar and him, it had broken off.  Ryck motioned for Çağlar to get up, and the two of them cautiously moved forward.

“Commanders, report when you can,” he passed, cognizant that some might have their hands full at the moment. 

The net remained eerily silent, though, while the woods were full of the noise of combat. 

“Holy shit, we’ve got one!” someone shouted to Ryck’s right. 

Ryck took off at a run, closing the distance quickly.  This was out of his sector, but it looked like no enemy had followed the two of them into theirs.  Within moments, Ryck could see two Marines, trying to edge forward to one of the tiger holes.  A stream of fire was erupting from the hole, a volcano of high explosives reaching for the sky.  Branches and leaves rained down in counterpoint.

Ryck saw it was Ling and Staff Sergeant Quintero, and he pointed at the near edge of the hole with his Rimsky.  Ling nodded and started firing, sending clods of dirt into the hole.  Quintero added his fire.

The fire from inside shifted, focusing on the edge as well, the stream of rounds eating away at it.  If the Nizzie has enough ammo, he’d be able to shoot his way out.  Ryck wasn’t going to let him.

He quietly walked to the far side of the hole and peeked over into it.  The head of the Nizzie was right there in front of him, only a meter below the lip of the pit.  The boys had done a great job in digging the pit in the short time they’d had.

Ryck reached into his cargo pocket and pulled out a toad of his own.  He’d made a name of himself with the little incendiary device, and with a wry smile, he pulled the pin.  It always seemed to come down to toads with him.

The man in the Nizzie never looked up as Ryck moved forward.  They had never seen Nolan hanging in the trees after that fight, so Ryck was not surprised.  Evidently the design of the Nizzie was not conducive to visibility, nor were its sensors very sophisticated. With a gentle underhanded toss, he lobbed the toad onto the back of the Nizzie, right at the neck juncture.  The tacky coating made it stick with barely a sound.  It must have been enough, though, to alert the pirate inside because he stopped firing and slowly turned around.  Ryck caught the man’s eyes through the clear visor just at the toad ignited and started it exorable burning journey through his armor.

Ryck didn’t bother to watch his handiwork.  It was time to break contact.

“All hands, orange, I say again, orange,” he passed.

He turned to head deeper into the woods, and followed by the other three, started his circuitous route to the rally point where he’d take stock of the situation and plan.  He thought at least 12 of the Nizzies had been destroyed, more than he could have expected.  But it wasn’t over until all of the vermin had been exterminated.